Chicago, Illinois

From the August 19, 2006 Daily Southtown:

Detectives are searching for a teenage gunman after a botched robbery left his accomplice dead and a third man fighting for his life in hospital.

Hazel Crest police found Javosky Holmes, 16, collapsed and bleeding in a field in the 17300 block of Mahoney Parkway on Thursday afternoon.

Police said Holmes and a second teen's attempt to rob Brian Katlik at gunpoint at his home in the same block went bad when Katlik produced a 9 mm handgun and returned fire.

Holmes, of 2815 Lexington Drive, Hazel Crest, was pronounced dead at St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields. A gunshot wound to his abdomen caused his death, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Katlik was in stable condition Friday at South Suburban Hospital, recovering from gunshot wounds. The second robber, who has not been named, is still at large, police said.

On Friday, Holmes' mother, Quying Holmes, said her son had "fallen in with a bad group of boys." He was enrolled at Country Club Hills Tech and Trade Center at the time of his death, she said.

"He was a cool kid, and he always wanted to be a doctor, but he had mental health issues and ended up in a shootout with some other boys," his mother said. "I don't know if the other kids were using him or why he got involved or what happened. It isn't clear yet. Everyone here (at the family home) is just broken up over what has happened."

She said she did not think her son knew Katlik.

UPDATE from the August 22, 2006 Daily Southtown:

An accused teenage robber faces a murder charge after his teenage uncle was shot and killed last week by the pair's intended victim.

Jacob Grant, 18, of the 5900 block of South Justice Street, Chicago, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting Thursday of his 16-year-old uncle, Javosky Holmes, in Hazel Crest.

Holmes, Grant and a 14-year-old boy planned to rob Brian Katlik as he sat in his car in the 17300 block of Mahoney Parkway, according to Cmdr. John Palcu, of the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force.

He said Holmes shot and wounded Katlik, who returned fire and hit Holmes in the abdomen. Holmes staggered across a field and collapsed in a creek while Katlik ran in the opposite direction and flagged down a passer-by who took him to a hospital, Palcu said.

Holmes, of 2815 Lexington Drive, Hazel Crest, was pronounced dead at St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields soon after, but Katlik survived. He's in stable condition at St. James.

Grant was apprehended Saturday after evading arrest for more than 48 hours, Palcu said.

"Grant has been charged with the homicide because he was involved in the commission of the crime and went with Holmes," Palcu said Monday.

Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office, said Grant was "committing a robbery, which means he's responsible for whatever happens" during the course of the crime.